Adventure 2002 Episode 13: His Call
by Collective Will
Summary: A dark force is calling out for Kari, and she isn't sure she can resist. Based on "His Master's Voice." The proof of concept of "Adventure 2002" that basically started it all.


Disclaimer: I don't own _Digimon_

This was the proof of concept for Adventure Zero Two. Please review it and let us know what you think.

_

* * *

_

**Episode 13**

**His Call…**

The lone lighthouse stood out amidst the fog, slowly casting a revolving beam of light. But was it light? It was pure black, and did nothing to lessen the dull darkness of the world around it. The great ocean around it slowly licked at the stone and sand below the lighthouse, and slowly, a dark form began to emerge from the black waters.

It slowly rose, hidden behind the veil of mist and fog. Had anyone been present, they would have seen only the loose outline of what appeared like a shadow, and a pair of eyes, glowing menacingly amidst the darkness. Ever so slowly, the dark form began to shift, and, guessing from the movement of those eyes, lifted its head upward toward the completely cloudy sky. The sound of a great bellow pierced the calm silence of this dark world, and the black clouds above parted slightly to create a small opening.

Slowly, the beast sank back into the depths of the black waters.

The great bellow was heard even in the Digital World. In his dark command room, the Digimon Emperor wondered what his surveillance system had detected, unable to find a thing when he began searching manually.

Far away, in a quiet green field in the Digital World, the clown heard the bellow and turned to the blonde boy walking just ahead of him. "Master, that was…"

"Let that sick freak do what he will," scoffed the boy, playing with the golden tag around his neck. He paused a moment and glanced at the broken orange crest inserted in the tag, thinking. The boy looked back up and chuckled. "After all, we owe him a debt for that technology that we will soon be using. Let him keep thinking he is the manipulator, the chess master pulling all the strings. I still have a special pawn left in that Dark World, so I know what's he's trying to do. Frankly, I don't care. It doesn't affect our plans at all. Come, we have more important things to worry about."

The clown bowed. "Yes, master."

* * *

The sun was shining brightly that morning, and most of the other students were heading to school like it was any other day. Kari, however, moved slowly and listlessly, thinking about her nightmare. Well, was it really a nightmare? She remembered seeing a lone lighthouse standing before a great ocean, but everything was dark and foggy, and the light coming from the lighthouse looked pitch black. In retrospect, that didn't exactly seem like such a scary dream, but she had woken up in a cold sweat.

She suddenly felt a chill, walked ahead faster, feeling as if something was behind her, trying to capture her. A hand suddenly touched her shoulder, and she cried out in surprise as she turned.

TK blinked and withdrew his hand. "Kari?"

Kari breathed a small sigh of relief at the sight of her friend, who she noticed wasn't wearing his usual hat. "Oh, good morning TK."

TK blinked. Kari was smiling, but somehow, there seemed like there was something off in her expression. "Kari, are you…"

"Come on!" called Davis, running past the two. "We're going to be late!"

If Davis was already running, then they probably really were very late already. Kari began running after Davis before TK could press any further. For a moment, TK only stared blankly, watching Kari and Davis running ahead. TK sighed and shook his head, and then began chasing after those two. He was probably just imagining things.

* * *

TK still felt slightly bothered, constantly glancing over at Kari as the two sat in the classroom. Thankfully, the teacher droned on and on, copying line after line of symbols onto the blackboard with his back to the students. No one noticed TK's unusual focus on his friend.

No one noticed Kari's blank stare, either. She tried to focus on the sound of her teacher's voice, but no matter how much she tried to concentrate, the sound was becoming weaker and weaker, gradually being replaced by the soft sound of ocean waves.

Suddenly, she saw mist, spreading throughout the room, obscuring everyone else from sight. Her feet felt cold and wet, and when she looked down, she saw not the floor, but the smooth surface of water. As she stared, the water slowly began to darken, until it was completely pitch black, like ink.

She tried to get up from her seat, or call for help, or do anything, but to her horror, she couldn't move at all. Her mind raged at her body to move, but her body was completely paralyzed. She couldn't even blink her eyes. Absolute terror gripped her, and the only movement she could feel in her body was the desperate pounding of her heart as she tried to scream.

TK glanced up from his notes and looked to Kari for what was probably at least the twentieth time, and the pencil fell from his hand onto his desk.

She looked gray and fuzzy around the edges. It was like she was disappearing.

"Kari!"

The entire class turned toward TK in surprise, and the teacher finally turned from the blackboard to find one of his students, standing up beside his desk, looking toward something with a look of fear. The teacher slowly followed the student's line of sight to Kari, who was staring blankly ahead, her face completely pale.

Kari slowly lifted her head, and feeling soon returned to her limbs. She turned to look at TK, and their eyes briefly met.

The teacher blinked. "Kamiya, Takaishi, is there a problem?"

Kari slowly turned her head back to the teacher and opened her mouth. No sound came out. Instead, she slowly slumped forward, her head colliding on her notes with a thud.

The students around Kari quickly rose from their seats, but Kari soon regained consciousness and lifted her head again. One of the girls sitting nearby helped her to her feet.

"Kamiya, you don't look too well," said the teacher. "You should go to the Nurse's Office."

The girl helping Kari up turned to the teacher, about to speak, but Kari quickly turned to her and weakly said, "I'm fine. I can go on my own."

Kari slowly made her way to the door, all eyes in the room focused on her. TK bit his lip, wondering if he should object and go escort her.

"Takaishi, you can sit down now."

TK's focus snapped back to the teacher, and he quietly sat back down and picked up his pencil. No, he was just imagining things. Kari was probably just sick, that was all. He eyes were still looking to the door even after Kari stepped outside and closed the door behind her.

When Kari stepped out into the hallway, she found it feeling oddly dark. Though she remembered it being sunny outside during the morning, she could see no light coming from the windows, and the lights in the ceiling of the hallway seemed oddly dimmed. When she took a step forward, she heard a splash, as if she had stepped into a puddle. Terrified, Kari looked down, only to see the very dry floor.

Slowly, Kari began to walk through the hallway.

She shuddered, suddenly feeling very, very cold. The sound of dripping water filled her ears. Kari found it very hard to breathe. Slowly, she began to turn around.

There, in the shadows near the end of the hall behind her, stood a mysterious dark form, its features obscured except for its glowing red eyes.

* * *

TK was out the door as soon as the bell rang, leaving a surprised Davis watching him run down the hall, straight to the Nurse's Office.

"Is Kari Kamiya still here?" he asked as he stuck his head into the door.

The nurse glanced up from her desk, confused. "No one has dropped by here today."

"What?" TK stepped inside, glancing at the empty beds in the office. He was back outside the office before the Nurse could say anything else. The image of Kari fading and collapsing kept on playing over and over again in his head.

He quietly cursed himself. He knew something was wrong that morning, but didn't do a thing. Was Kari in trouble? Where was she? She wasn't in Nurse's Office. She wasn't in the library, or the gymnasium, or the computer lab, or...anywhere! She couldn't have just vanished! She couldn't just…

There she was, sitting on a bench outside near the school's entrance. TK caught sight of her through the window as he ran through the hallways, and he immediately changed course to head to the entrance, to her.

As he approached the bench where she sat, TK suddenly realized he didn't know what to say to her. There was no denying it. Something was bothering her. She looked so sad, sitting there, and he felt so helpless, not knowing what to do.

"Hey…" TK suddenly realized his throat felt very dry.

Kari didn't look up. She remained seated on the bench, staring at her feet. "I was….at the ocean…"

TK slowly stepped closer, but made sure to stop before he was too close, and remained standing right there. "The ocean?"

"I think I might be going away for a while. I feel like…something is calling me away…"

TK bit his lip, and kept his voice quiet when he spoke. "Kari, what's wrong? Who's calling? What's going on?"

"They're going to call again, and next time, I don't think I can resist it…They're going to take me away."

Though he had no idea why, TK was beginning to feel very bothered. He wanted to tell her how terrified he had been when he watched her fade and suddenly collapse, but couldn't bring himself to. "Whatever's wrong, you can resist it. You're not going to just give up and disappear."

"I'm not strong, like my brother…It was always Tai that protected me at times like this…"

TK felt something within him snap. "Tai? Tai this, Tai that, you're always going on about how you need your brother! That's your problem! You don't need to rely on him! You're strong! Look, I care too much about you to just watch you give up on…" He trailed off when Kari turned toward him, her eyes looking listless and lost, even hurt, and TK realized he had gone too far with that outburst.

He fell silent and slowly backed away, too ashamed to bring himself to look into her eyes. He had said far too much to her, yelled at her when she needed help, maybe even hurt her. Not knowing what else to do, he turned and ran in shame.

* * *

Kari was alone when she left the school ground, stepping out into the sidewalk. Her mind was spinning, and she could barely form a coherent thought.

She slowly walked down the sidewalk, and heard the sound of ocean waves. When she looked back up, she found the beach just across the street from her. Kari didn't even notice when Gatomon slipped out from her usual hiding spot in the trees near the school to jump down.

"Kari, did you forget about me? Wait up!"

Kari didn't turn around. Instead, she slowly began to cross the street.

"Kari?" Gatomon paused on the sidewalk. Kari was on the other side of the street, staring out at the ocean.

A truck passed between Gatomon and Kari.

And then there was no Kari, only her backpack, floating in midair. It fell to the ground with a thud the next second.

* * *

TK stepped out onto the sidewalk, and glanced up at the nearby tree. Patamon slipped out and flew down to meet him, landing on his head. "Hey TK!"

"Hey."

Patamon blinked. "Is something wrong? You don't look so well."

"I'm fine," whispered TK. "Have you seen Kari? I need to talk with her."

"What a coincidence. I was just saw Gatomon jump down from her tree, so that means Kari probably just walked by. We can probably still catch up with them."

"No." TK and Patamon turned around to find Gatomon standing behind them, holding Kari's red backpack.

"Hey Gatomon," said Patamon happily. "We were just talking about you and Kari."

TK, unlike his partner, noticed the look of fear in Gatomon's eyes. "Gatomon, what's wrong?"

Gatomon swallowed and set the backpack down. "Kari…disappeared."

* * *

Kari felt like she was swimming in a vortex of black water. When she opened her eyes, she could see nothing but black.

"Ah, there you are…"

That chilling voice felt like it was cutting into her, and Kari shuddered.

"So beautiful….so bright…" whispered the voice. "And so powerful… No wonder they couldn't do it themselves and needed my aid. I wish I could take you now, but certain things must be taken care of first…"

The blackness pulled away left her, and Kari found herself standing on a beach, looking out over a vast ocean of black water, the horizon hidden behind a great fog. Further down the shore stood a single lighthouse, casting a black light out into the mist. The sky was completely cloudy, and everything in the world felt and looked gray, dull, and subdued.

There was no sound in this dark place. Kari looked around. "Where am I?"

* * *

TK walked down the beach, Gatomon and Patamon chasing behind him. "TK, wait up!" TK stopped, letting the two digimon catch up, but the two suddenly stopped just short of him, seeing his tense body and clenched fists. "TK, we need to go tell the others. She's probably in the Digital World or something."

"This is my fault!"

The two digimon exchanged confused looks. Both were slightly scared of TK's tone. "What?"

"She was in trouble. I knew it, and didn't do a thing. I failed her. I promised Tai and Sora that I would protect her, but I just stood by and let this happen!"

Patamon slowly shifted forward, but couldn't bring himself to actually go right next to TK. "Come on, let's head back to the others and think this all through…"

"She's not in the Digital World," said TK quietly, though the dark tone remained in his voice. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his green D3, glaring at it. "She's…somewhere else. Something called her to someplace else, and I can't do anything to help her now. This stupid thing is completely useless!"

Gatomon stepped forward as well. "TK, don't panic. Kari is strong. She can take of herself until we find her. Everything will be alright."

TK didn't reply. He began walking again, with the two digimon following.

* * *

Though she had no idea why, Kari began to walk down the beach, finding what looked like a dark tunnel in the side of a cliff.

"Hello?" she called into the tunnel. She was greeted by sounds of groaning. There was something in the tunnel. She slowly stepped inside, following the sound of the cries of despair. She stopped as she saw them, a crowd of digimon lying on the ground.

They were dark, with webbed feet and hands, and slimy skin, identifying them as aquatic creatures. Their eyes were glowing red, and they groaned as if in constant agony. "Help us…please…"

Kari slowly approached, just stopping at the one that was closest to the entrance of the tunnel. "Who are you?"

"We are Scubamon," whispered the closest one.

_Scubamon: an Aquatic Beast-type digimon. Little is known about these mysterious digimon._

"We do not know how we came here. We are creatures of the Dark Ocean, servants of the God of the Depths, but one day, an enemy of our God appeared, and we found ourselves here, bound by these shackles that suppress our power." One Scubamon held out its arm, revealing what looked like a Dark Spiral bound around its wrist.

"Spirals? Was it the Digimon Emperor?" Kari looked down at the spiral shackles, which looked so much like the one she had seen Ken use, but subtly different.

The Scubamon that had spoken tried to crawl forward, reaching out toward Kari. "You must be the Destined Queen, sent by our God of the Depths to save us. Please, help us…" the other Scubamon soon began to beg for help as well, trying to crawl toward Kari.

Kari looked down as the nearest Scubamon reached out its shackled arm. She slowly reached out with her own hands, and suddenly, there was a light coming from her own hands, reaching out toward the dark shackle.

However, before she could touch the shackles, the sound of rumbling caught her attention, and she looked up as the ceiling above her cracked.

"We have to get out of here!" she called to the Scubamon. The Scubamon quickly began crawling out toward the entrance where Kari had come in through, with Kari helping the slower ones along.

The tunnel had all but collapsed when Kari, the last one, finally made it out the entrance, coughing as clouds of dust poured out from behind her. A sudden cry of terror caught her attention. She saw the Scubamon in front of her cowering in fear, pointing up towards the sky with shaking fingers. Kari followed their fingers to see what they were so scared of.

Amidst the clouds flew a white form that shone brightly even in all the mist and fog. For a moment, Kari thought it looked almost like an angel, but was suddenly afraid as she watched the white being descended down toward the beach and got a much better look at it.

One Scubamon managed to finally croak out one word. "IceDevimon…"

_IceDevimon: a Fallen Angel-type digimon. He is a ruthless mass murderer that likes to keep the frozen bodies of his victims as trophies. His Frozen Claw is said to be so cold that it can kill with a single touch._

"Who is that?" asked Kari desperately, turning to the Scubamon.

The nearest Scubamon turned sadly to Kari. "That is a messenger of the enemy of our God."

"The Digimon Emperor?" wondered Kari aloud.

"Look what we have here!" laughed the white devil, catching sight of Kari and the Scuabmon. "Delicious prey!" He flew over Kari and the Scubamon, sending down a rain of sharp icicles as he passed. Upon contacting the beach, each icicle exploded, sending out shards of ice in all directions.

* * *

TK had now made his way past the beach, standing out on a wall beside the ocean, looking out over the waters below. Not knowing what else to do, he called out as loud as he could. "Kari!"

Patamon and Gatomon looked at each other. What good would calling out over the ocean do?

* * *

An icicle exploded near her, sending shards that dug into her skin. She cried in pain and surprise, feeling completely helpless. The Scubamon nearby cowered and cried amidst the bombardment of ice, not having the strength to fall back or even flee from the beach.

"I can't do anything!" she cried helplessly, falling to her knees and gripping her head with her hands. "Please, someone, help me!"

IceDevimon was almost on top of them.

"I need you, brother…Gatomon…" Kari closed her eyes. "TK…"

TK's eyes shot open as he felt it. Her. He knew she was right in front of him. All he had to do was leap forward.

And he did.

"TK!" Patamon flew forward as TK leapt from the edge. "What are you doing?"

But TK didn't fall into the water below. Gatomon's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. "Linking to another world…through sheer will?" She leapt forward as well, joining TK and Patamon, and soon all three felt as if they were being sucked in a vortex of thick black water.

And soon Patamon and Gatomon found themselves somewhere neither the Material World nor the Digital World, standing before a great expanse of an ocean of black water. They glanced behind them, seeing what looked like a blob of swirling darkness, presumably some sort of portal they had traveled through to get there. They turned back forward and brightened as they saw Kari standing below them on the sand. "Kari!"

The appearance of Patamon and Gatomon had coincided with a sudden flash when the portal had appeared, causing IceDevimon to retreat slightly to reassess the situation. Kari saw them and ran forward, and for a moment forgot her danger. "Gatomon! Patamon!" She suddenly stopped. If Patamon was here, then shouldn't…

Patamon suddenly noticed the absence and looked around frantically. "Where's TK? He was right with us." He looked back behind him at the dark blob.

* * *

"Imagine my surprise," cooed the thick low voice. "Just when I had taken the Queen, I manage to pick up a Pawn as well. What brought you here to my domain, boy?"

TK looked around him, but could see nothing but darkness. He felt like he was floating in liquid black. "Who are you…?"

"You don't need to know," continued the voice. To TK, the voice sounded somewhat…wet, for the lack of a better word. "You are not important enough to know who I am. I am merely interested in how you were able to enter my domain. Was it the girl? Are you trying to reach her?"

TK's expression darkened with anger and hatred. "You're the one who took Kari, aren't you?"

There was a low rumbling laugh which shook TK to his core. "Does it matter if I am or am not? You cannot do a thing either way. You're pathetic. You are so weak that you've let yourself become trapped by me on the way through."

"What are you talking about?"

"I've been watching you, all of you, for a while now. I've been watching all of the DigiDestined from when you first stepped first on File Island three years ago and I've been watching you new DigiDestined from when the first of your number accidentally came here to unlock his dark powers, and from when you and those others first blundered through the barrier to find the Digimental of Courage. And from what I have seen, I can safely say that you are by far the most pathetic of all your poor lot."

TK slowly struggled to move, but the darkness felt like it was clinging to him all over his body, and moving his hand even an inch felt like it took an entire minute. Every time that deep voice spoke, it felt like it was cutting into his very heart.

"You were the pathetic one all through your first adventure, the young weak one that always needed someone to protect him. You couldn't do a thing besides watch helplessly as your family broke apart and you lost your father and brother. You could do nothing but watch as your first partner died before your eyes. You yourself could never do a thing to help your team. You were only ever useful because somehow, you had been granted a strong partner, but even then, your own weakness held that partner back. Did you think it was mere coincidence how both your first and second partner always seemed to lag behind the others, always digivolving last? It was because you were so weak. It was because of your weakness that your first partner died. It is your weakness that holds your second partner back."

"Stop it," whispered TK, desperately struggling. The darkness only wrapped around him tighter. "You don't know me!"

"You promised that girl's brother you would take care of her, protect her, but look at you. You couldn't protect her three years ago, and you couldn't save her today. You abandoned her today in her time of need because you were scared of her. Look at you now, in your current adventure. Even though you are no longer the youngest of your team, you are still the weakest. Though you have the most experience of the five, your little team is led by that girl, with even that fool with the goggles having more authority than you. Do you know why that is? It is because you yourself are too weak to be a leader."

"Stop it!" cried TK. The darkness was beginning to become so tight that he could no longer move or even speak.

"Do you know what the opposite of love is?" laughed the voice. "It's not hate. It's apathy. The feeling of being hated is small compared to the feeling of being ignored, the feeling of being unimportant, of being unneeded. With hate you at least know the other acknowledges you, but with apathy…you might as well not even exist. Such is the feeling of being insignificant. And that's just what you are: insignificant. I will admit that I was surprised and even amused that you were capable of entering my domain, but now I realize that it was merely a fluke, a mere accident of circumstance. It was due to that girl's power, not yours. It's funny, really: you, the weakest, thought you could save her, the strongest. You were amusing for a while, but I'm done now. You're not worth any more time; you're not even worth killing. You can just remain here, trapped and helpless, unimportant, forever."

TK closed his eyes in defeat, completely helpless. The voice did not speak again, leaving him alone to float in the blackness for hours, leaving him to float in everything he had heard.

"TK!"

TK's eyes snapped open at the sound of Kari's voice, and suddenly he began to see a dim light in the blackness. It was soon greeted by a small golden light, so much weaker than that one in the distance, coming from his own chest. Suddenly he was filled with renewed determination, renewed energy, renewed hope, and he desperately began to swim through the black toward it.

"Oh…what is this?" laughed the low voice again, and the darkness around TK rumbled, but soon relaxed and let him go. "Very well, go ahead and be rescued. I don't care. It doesn't change a thing, because you can't do anything at all, boy."

TK felt the darkness around him grow weaker, and the next thing he knew, his head and arm was emerging from what looked like a levitating black blob, with Kari, Patamon, and Gatomon standing before him. He gasped for air as he looked around at the dark and foggy world.

Patamon breathed a sigh of relief, even though from his perspective only a few seconds had passed since they had noticed TK had somehow lagged behind in that darkness. "Thank goodness!"

TK paused to try to catch his breath. "How long was I in there?"

"Only a few seconds," replied Patamon, blissfully unaware of what happened. "You're so slow sometimes TK."

TK didn't reply, instead focusing on struggling to work the rest of his body out of the portal without crashing face first into the ground. It had not felt like a few seconds in that portal. It definitely did not feel like a few seconds.

"We've got other problems," said Gatomon, pointing at the sky, where IceDevimon was flying in again for another icicle bombing run. "We've got to hurry. Let's Armor Digivolve!"

Kari pulled her pink D3 from her pocket but when she reached into her other pocket, she found nothing. "I don't have my D-terminal," she suddenly realized. "It was in my bag!"

TK slowly began to struggle, reaching his free arm back into the darkness to reach his pocket to pull out his D-terminal and throw it to Kari. "Take it!"

Kari caught it, flipping it open to see the image of the golden Digimental of Hope. She nodded and looked to Gatomon. "Ready?"

"Ready!" Gatomon began glowing with a golden light. "Gatomon Armor Digivolve!"

"Rampaging Hope, Oryxmon!"

The great gray beast stood, surrounded by an aura of golden light. Oryxmon was a great goat wearing armor of gold and silver, her two great golden horns extending from the silver helmet adorned with a single red jewel. A golden bell hung from the silver collar around her neck, and both were engraved with holy symbols.

_Oryxmon: a Holy-Beast Armor-type digimon, achieved when Gatomon uses the Digimental of Hope. She is said to be a wise guardian of secret treasures. Her Mystic Bell produces a sound that drives away evil._

IceDevimon decided to land on the beach now, arms raised, ready to attack. "Oh, this is interesting. Let's see what you've got, you oversized goat."

Oryxmon charged forward to confront IceDevimon as Kari and Patamon tried to help the rest of TK out of the dark portal. He fell onto his hands and knees, trying to calm his breathing and forget what he had heard while in the portal. As he struggled back to his feet, he caught sight of IceDevimon, who now raised his arms to shield him from Oryxmon's charge.

TK merely stared as Oryxmon collided against IceDevimon, ramming her golden horns against his long white arms. IceDevimon looked exactly like Devimon, only colored white instead of black. TK quickly turned away, clutching at his mouth and trying to keep his breath even, lest he vomit right there. _It was because of your weakness that your first partner died_.

"TK?" Kari turned to her friend. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Now was not the time to worry about his own problems. Kari was in trouble. Doing his best to control his breathing, TK turned back to see IceDevimon grab Oryxmon's horns and throw her further down the beach, then fly back into the air. "Oryxmon won't be able to take that guy alone."

Kari glanced over to Patamon. "TK, Patamon may not be able to armor digivolve to Pegasusmon while Oryxmon has the armor, but he can still digivolve normally, right?"

TK hesitated slightly, and both Kari and Patamon looked to him in confusion. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said quickly, pulling out his green D3. It lay lifeless in his hands. "What the…?"

_You can't do anything at all, boy._

"Something is wrong TK," said Patamon. "Why can't I digivolve?"

The three were quiet, all trying to think of something, when the sounds of battle interrupted their thoughts, and they quickly turned to look back at Oryxmon. With IceDevimon in the sky, she could no longer hope to ram him again. He flew over her, raining down his explosive icicles down at Oryxmon. "Avalanche Claw!"

"Mystic Bell!" The ringing of Oryxmon's golden bell sent out a great wave of sound, shattering the icicles in midair. IceDevimon quickly flew higher into the air to avoid getting caught in the blast. "Don't think that my horns are my only way to attack!"

"Bah! Let's see what you can do against my strongest attack!" IceDevimon folded his wings and dived down, arm extended.

"Milky Erode!" Oryxmon opened her mouth, breathing out a great white mist that quickly flew upward toward IceDevimon. "That mist will eat away at anything it touches!"

IceDevimon merely laughed surrounded his body with ice, charging right through the mist. As the white mist ate away at the ice, IceDevimon merely created more beneath it. Oryxmon slowly lowered her head, horns read to catch IceDevimon's attack.

The outer shell of ice shattered and IceDevimon lashed out with his arm. "Frozen Claw!" Oryxmon pulled back, her horns now coated with ice.

Back, near the higher ground, Kari was growing worried. Oryxmon was obviously struggling. "TK, we need to do something."

TK looked from the green D3 in his hands to Kari, and in his head he remembered her, three years ago, standing before a crowd of Numemon and glowing brightly. He remembered what he had heard in the darkness. "Kari, I can't do anything, but you can."

Kari looked up to him in surprise. "What?"

TK looked into her eyes, and she saw something in his eyes that she had never seen before. "Kari, I'm sorry I yelled at you before, but what I said was true. You're strong, Kari. You're the strongest of us all."

"TK, I…" His eyes looked so sad.

"You're strong Kari," whispered TK. "Trust me. You can do it."

Kari glanced back to the Scubamon nearby, remembering the light that had come from her hands. Soon, the light was there again, coming from her entire body. She looked down at herself in wonder. The growing light spread out, piercing away the mist. Down the beach, Oryxmon looked behind her to see Kari there, and slowly felt the light renew her strength. The ice on her horns had melted away.

The light coming from Kari was shining ever brighter, but she felt like something was holding it back. Something like…

She turned to look at the lighthouse, feeling the darkness within it. She began to run towards it, TK following close behind. "Oryxmon! Take it down!" she cried.

Oryxmon looked toward it as she galloped away from IceDevimon toward the lighthouse. IceDevimon quickly flew back into the air, chasing after her, but Oryxmon skillfully dodged the rain of icicles and freezing beams IceDevimon shot down at her. "On it!" she cried, picking up speed and lowering her head. With one last sprint, she charged straight through the lighthouse, her golden horns tearing through the stone like it was only paper. She landed near Kari, TK, and Patamon.

The walls of the lighthouse shattered, revealing the black Control Spire hidden within. But was it really one of the Emperor's Control Spires? It looked somehow different, somehow older. It didn't matter in the end, as it soon toppled down into the dark waves below, breaking as it fell. The small opening in the black clouds suddenly widened, and a great beam of light poured down from it, twisting until it connected with Kari's own light.

Oryxmon glowed gold, and reverted back to Gatomon as the light of the armor flew back to the D-terminal in Kari's hand. Gatomon looked toward Patamon and the two nodded, feeling the power coming from Kari's light. It was time. They leapt into the light connecting the hole in the clouds and Kari, and their energy was fully restored.

"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!"

"Gatomon super digivolve to…Angewomon!"

Kari's spirits rose. Somehow the light had been strong enough to allow Gatomon to digivolve even without a Crest, and there was no way IceDevimon could even stand a chance against both angels.

IceDevimon retreated before the shining light of the two angels, but he began to laugh. "Oh, did you think destroying that Spire was a smart idea?" IceDevimon began to glow with a black light. "The Lord of the Dark Ocean posts them on his borders as part of his defense. Did you never think that perhaps that Spire suppressed not only your power, but mine as well?"

IceDevimon roared with laughter as the darkness enveloped all his body, hiding him from sight. "IceDevimon dark digivolve to…MarineDevimon!"

The dark light dispersed, and the giant body of MarineDevimon landed into the ocean, sending waves out in all directions. TK and Kari quickly fled further into the high ground to avoid being swept away. Due to the great size of the Leviathan beast, its upper body still towered far above the water level, and he looked down at the two small angels floating around him with a smile of triumph. The twisted monster looked a demonic union of a devil and a giant squid, a mass of dark tentacles flowing from all directions from the humanoid body. MarineDevimon laughed triumphantly as it opened its mouth to attack. "Dark Deluge!"

The two angels retreated and scattered, easily dodging the venomous ink spewing from MarineDevimon's mouth. Angewomon moved to confront MarineDevimon from the front, while Angemon approached MarineDevimon from behind. "It doesn't matter how big you are," called Angewomon. "The two of us are still far stronger than you!"

"Hand of Fate!"

"Heaven's Charge!"

The two beams of light struck MarineDevimon from the front and back, and the dark digimon roared in anger and pain as it was torn apart. The pieces vanished as the light of the two attacks dissipated.

Triumphant, Kari ran back down to the beach to join the Scubamon. Angewomon descended down toward Kari and the Scubamon. A pink light came from her hand, and the dark spiral-like shackles soon fell from the limbs of the Scubamon, broken at last. Kari turned to them with a smile. She had freed them. They had won.

And then that smile died.

The Scubamon had changed, growing larger and taller until they looked like mere dark shadows, their only distinguishable features being their eyes. Kari suddenly realized that they now looked exactly like the dark shadow she had seen earlier that day, stalking her in the hallway. They slowly got to their feet, staring at Kari with a look of desire. Kari recoiled slightly and was suddenly afraid. "Is this what you really look like?"

One of the dark forms stepped forward and grabbed Kari's arm.

"Wh-What are you doing?" she cried. "I helped you all."

The grip around Kari's arm tightened. "And you have our gratitude," wheezed the dark form. "However, you were not called here to free us or to defeat that messenger. You were called because you are the only one worthy to be the bride of our God of the Depths. We must bring you to our God. To face our enemies, you must bear Him offspring. You must bear Him offspring with powers of both Light and Dark, so that our Lord may reign supreme."

Kari struggled, but the grip only grew tighter. "Stop!"

TK began running down to the beach as well. "Let her go!"

A sudden flash of light blasted toward the dark form, which immediately released Kari to dodge the attack. All the dark shadowy bodies looked up at Angewomon, who glowered at them and aimed her finger at them threateningly, pink light emanating as she charged another attack. The dark forms slowly began to retreat backwards into the ocean.

"Destined Queen of Light," wheezed one. "Our God of the Depths thought you would rejoice to become his Queen, as did we, but if not, so be it. Our God of the Depths is an ancient God, and He is patient…He will wait for you…He will call you again…"

Kari watched them slowly vanish amidst the waves and fog, but she could not forget the feeling of that cold and wet grip around her arm, nor forget what they had said to her. TK slowly approached her, but he could not think of anything to say. The two were quiet for a while.

"I want to go home," Kari said at last.

TK wanted to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but hesitated, and decided against it. He certainly did not have the right to try to make things better after failing so miserably. His arms hang limply at his sides. "Okay," he whispered. "Let's go home."

Angemon and Angewomon took the two in their arms and began flying upward toward the hole in the dark clouds, where light was still pouring down from.

As he and Angemon entered the light behind Kari and Angewomon, TK still heard that dark low voice ringing in his ears, and he looked back down at the murky waters below. TK wondered, for a moment, just how much he really did bring to the team, how much he could really do.

He looked back up to Kari, who finally looked calm. She looked so beautiful.

What could he do for her? In the end, it was her that saved him, not the other way around. She was the strongest of them all, and he was the weakest of them all. He couldn't protect her. She didn't need him to protect her, not really. Did he matter? To her?

"I wonder," he whispered. "Who is the focus of your heart?"

"TK?" She looked over to him. "Did you say something?"

"No. It's nothing." TK immediately gave her a small smile, but Kari saw that this was not the usual happy smile that he showed her, it was one of those artificial ones he would show others. She wondered briefly if she should ask him if something was wrong, but she already knew he would brush it off as nothing. So Kari remained quiet, casting a worried glance at TK as he slowly turned to look back at the dark expanse below them.

As they flew into the light and vanished from the Dark World, the waters of the ocean began to move, slowly forming great waves. Slowly the dark form rose from the waters, sending water out in all directions and washing away the ruins of the broken Spire. The great beast looked back up at the sky, where the light began to fade as the children and digimon left the Dark World behind. The dark form gave a low rumbling laugh. "Imagine my surprise, when the Pawn actually helped lead the Queen out of my realm. Even the lowly Pawn, when in the right position, can make a difference in the game…Oh well, I can wait."

The beast sighed. True, there had been some benefit from the incident, but his ultimate plan had failed. He had been too hasty, and that was why his plan had failed. He had been too impatient to strike, knowing that this had been his last chance to move. Soon, his enemies, the shadow of the Seven and the shadow of the Undead King, would begin to move as well, and he would not have another chance to strike for a long time. The great Dragomon, Lord of the Dark Ocean, God of the Depths, slowly descended back into the seas to rest, to wait. They would come back, he knew. There would be more opportunities in the future, he knew. For now, he would just wait.

And wait.

* * *

Notes: Happy Vernal Equinox to the Northern Hemisphere. Spring is a time of new beginnings, so here is a proof-of-concept for a planned re-imagining of _Digimon Adventure 02_.

The idea behind the project is this: Digimon is built on two things, showing off digimon and exploring the psychology of the characters. This project intends to focus on these two ideas by introducing more digimon through more armor evolutions by swapping digimental eggs, and later through swapping partners when DNA digivolving. The characters will be explored with more character-centric episodes and more "ship teasing."

This proof-of-concept includes a digimon produced by an egg swap and focuses on two children. It is based on episode 13, "His Master's Call," instead of episode 1, "Enter Flamedramon," as it was decided that the former had more chances to showcase examples of our plans. It was written with an overall plot of the re-imagining in mind and therefore contains references to hypothetical past episodes and foreshadows hypothetical future episodes. Please note that Oryxmon is an actual digimon: the creators of digimon did in fact create digimon for every possible combination of digimon and digimental egg. If the project proceeds, it will avoid using original digimon as much as possible.

Update: The project, Adventure Zero Two, is already underway. Go check it out on this site or at the author's home page, which is accessible through the author profile. reviews are greatly appreciated. More details and updates will be given in the author profile. Thank you for your time.


End file.
